Our Vision, Our Mission, Our Calling

"The Hands and Feet of Christ"

Our mission at St. James United Methodist Church is to make sure God’s mission is accomplished through the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we reach out in the community by connecting with others and the community through programs of nurture, outreach and witness.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: The History of St. James United Methodist Church
By: Pam Dankins

Giving to the Community

The influence of St. James has been felt throughout the community for many years with the members of the church striving to reach out and touch as many people as they can. Secretary of St. James UMC Karen Dankins has served in this position for the last three years. Outside of her regularly duties from streaming the Sunday services along with the help of Cassandra Johnson to being the Recording Secretary of Charge Conference, she has been at the forefront of two of the most community attended food give aways at the church.

Leading the way with the highest community support is our Food Drive. Around two years ago in August after the arrival of Pastor Robinson in June, we hosted our first drive inspired by one of our neighboring churches. Implementing the idea and turning it into a St. James staple, the St. James UMC Food Drive was designed to serve the families of our community and surrounding communities.

The church has partnered with Mid-South Food Bank, a company out of Memphis, Tennessee, that provides food for children, families, and seniors. With the help of their services, we can serve on average 200-250 families from different areas including other parts of Monroe County, Lee County, and Lamar County. Even after serving this many families, we still have enough food left to feed up to 100-150 families. Therefore, the remaining food is distributed to the apartment complexes, the Amory Food Pantry, and the Nettleton Faith Food Pantry.

The Food Drive was impactful for the community because in 2020 COVID-19 hit and people lost their jobs, so there was a decrease in the amount of income that was coming into households. Dankins said St. James prioritized giving to the community during a tough time. The overwhelmingly positive response to the Food Drive was noticed based on the number of families waiting to come through the line.

St. James UMC member Debbie Adams is one of many St. James members that help during the Food Drive. She said that she felt honored to be a member of St. James. This is because she enjoys the fellowship and seeing people come through the line that she hasn’t seen in a while. She said this event was necessary for the community.

“I think it is significant because so many people are hungry and we don’t even know it,” Adams said.

St. James tries to hold a Food Drive every two months, but the most effective distribution of food happens around the time of holidays. The church may receive donations during some of the drive days; however, St. James uses the money where it is needed within the church, then distributes it back to the community.

Dankins describes the church’s actions as something that brings her a “sense of joy”. She said she is blessed to be able to participate in the drive and be able to help her spiritual brothers and sisters in the community by giving back.

“It’s not about me, and it’s not about St. James. It’s about serving God and being a service to the people in the community. We are blessed to be able to be a blessing to somebody else," Dankins said.

The second most anticipated community event locals grow excited about is St. James’ popular Rib Sale. While the Rib Sale organization is under the supervision of Dankins, the fundraiser consists of other teams within the church. Some of the people involved are the Methodist Men under the leadership of Harold Burns, Methodist Women under the leadership of Dorothy Carter, and any volunteers who are willing to help serve.

Dankins has been the organizer/planner of the Rib Sale for almost the past four, but the Rib Sale at St. James has been present for over 15 years. St. James has sold ribs during Amory’s Railroad Festival and selling from their front doors. Two rib sales are held throughout the year in August and October on a Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with some people calling as early as 7 a.m.

President of the Methodist Men Harold Burns is one of the many members of the Methodist Men to help by taking the initiative on the grill and in the kitchen. They arrive at the church around 4 a.m. to get ribs cleaned and prepared for eating.

Burns said his passion for food service reaches all the way back to working at a café in high school to being a cook during his military service years. Upon getting home in 1996, he transitioned his drive of working for the needs of others into St. James.

“We are trying to reach out to the community, and we are trying to be the church that God wants us to be,” Burns said.

In hopes of continuing to grow at St. James, this community event promotes the expansion that the church strives towards. All the proceeds are used to utilize purchases in the church with a profit of an average of $6,000 used for repairs or new additions, but at the end of the day Dankins said the church must give back to the community.

“It makes you feel happy whenever you can put a smile on somebody’s face or do something to be of service to others. We don’t expect to always make a profit off of everything because sometimes you must do things for the community,” Dankins said.

Fellowship Hall

Dankins is also a member of the Mission Team under the leadership of Chairperson Tereasa Johnson. The Mission Team at St. James UMC hosted a one-time special event called a Brown Bag Lunch. They purchased burgers, grilled them, and placed them inside a brown lunch sack containing a bag of chips, snack cake, and water.

St. James member Astra Robinson was one of many members to help at the Brown Bag Lunch Give Away. She said she enjoyed fellowshipping with the Mission Team and working together by fixing the lunch bags to give back to others. She said doing these activities build our community up to make a difference in the lives of others.

“I think it’s important to give to the community to provide an important service to less fortunate people (neighbors) and to get to know the community and its citizens,” Robinson said.

This event was open to anyone interested and was free to attend. A minimum of 100 bags were given away, and the remaining bags were dispersed throughout the community. This was St. James Mission Team’s “snack and go”, where they were provided the opportunity to give back to the community.

“You are more blessed when you give than when you are always expecting to receive, and once you start giving back to others, then God will bless you. Where we were being a blessing to somebody else, we were also getting blessed in return,” Dankins said.

St. James continues its’ historic legacy as an integral part of the Amory community by reaching out and offering Christ to others, feeding the community, and growing closer to Christ.

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